For my seventh birthday, my parents bought me the Laura Ingalls Wilder book series. I don't know what possessed them to do such a thing, but I could never put them down. I can't even count how many times I read them when I was young. I was so obsessed that I made my family go to their homestead museum in De Smet, SD during a family vacation. They hated every minute. I loved it.
After Thanksgiving, I was talking with my pianist, and she had said that she had read one, "The Long Winter," while she was home during Thanksgiving break. I thought to myself, "What a fantastic idea," and decided to read the series while I was home for Christmas. Between drinking, knitting, drinking, puzzles, drinking, and drinking, I didn't really have time to read a whole lot. However, I brought the books that I didn't finish with me to CO so that I would have some entertaining reading for my life.
I just finished "The Long Winter."
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That story has absolutely nothing to do with this blog topic, other than that I stole the name of the book for my blog title. Ha! I make myself laugh sometimes...
Some know and some don't that I was kicked out of my apartment in Boulder at the end of December. They didn't really have any good reason for kicking me out other than that they didn't want me there, but I left without a fight. Luckily, at about the time I was getting kicked out, Kenny's ex-boyfriend was moving out of their condo in Broomfield. Broomfield is a suburb of Denver, approximately 15 miles from Boulder.
Fifteen miles is not that far. At least, not by ND standards, where cruising speed is 68 on a 65, and highways are void of things like traffic, potholes, car accidents, and stoplights. Yes, stoplights. I'm not kidding you when I say that highways here in CO have stoplights in the middle of nowhere. There is nothing more annoying.
The road that I take to Boulder doesn't have stoplights, but it does have traffic. Let me tell you: it has traffic. Sometimes it takes me 45 minutes to go those 15 miles. And that's on a clear day. I haven't experienced snow/ice yet, but Kenny tells me it's even worse on those days. Ew. Now, I could take the bus, but I can't park for free at the park and ride because I have ND plates, and it takes even longer to get to Boulder by bus.
Because it now takes me more than 7 minutes to walk to class every morning, I have to get up that much earlier in order to get to class on time. I have class at 8:00 am twice a week and at 9:00 am twice a week. That equals getting up at 6:00 and 7:00 at the latest. If you know me, you know that mornings and I are not friends. Not even close to friends, so that is less than ideal.
After fighting traffic to arrive in Boulder, I have to find parking. Because I have class so early, it's generally not too difficult for me to find free, off-campus parking, but it's not too convenient, either. It's just a hassle.
Let's not even talk about how stinky it is not to be able to go home in the middle of the day to take a shower, or a nap, or to eat dinner. Most days, I bring lunch and supper with me. There hasn't been a day yet that I haven't spent more than 12 hours in Boulder. But it's not worth coming home in the middle of the day, and especially not during rush hour traffic.
The current condo is cheaper than the old one per month, but we have to pay utilities and I have to pay for gas for commuting. Blech.
Now, there are positives to the new place. My room is much bigger, I have a bathroom all to myself, there's a piano at home. Oh, and of course, I have a fantastic roommate who entertains me daily. Next year, we'll be living the high life in Boulder.
No, not that high life.
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